AA: Revolutionary Patriot

With her husband some 400 miles away in Philadelphia trying to create an independent nation from 13 disassociated colonies with all their inherent problems, needs, quibbles, and disparate personalities (including his own), Abigail Adams voraciously consumed the latest news. Whether from the various gazettes and newspapers she could find, letters to and from an increasing correspondence list, conversation with friends, neighbors and passing strangers, she devoured whatever information she could, and became an ardent revolutionary herself in her own right.

She had known for some time that John Adams had come to the conclusion that the American colonies needed their own independence from Great Britain, to whom they “belonged” for 150 years. She agreed. She was also delighted each time she learned that another prominent personage was drawing the same conclusion. “I long to hear that you have declared an independency…”

Of course it was much more complicated than just declaring it.  

AA: Revolutionary Thinking 

Abigail Smith Adams (1744-1818) had a somewhat turbulent soul. On the one hand, she was the daughter of a Congregational Minister, and religion had played (and would always play) an important role in her life, her outlook, and her moral behavior. It also provided comfort. 

On the other hand, she was a particularly bright woman with a challenging intellect, but denied the formal classical education usually reserved for boys. Boys were tutored from an early age, and if families could afford it, received a college education for a professional career. Girls might learn to read and write and do sums, but it was usually taught by the mother, or some female relative. Past that, their education was domestic: cooking and sewing, gardening, child care and household management. 

Nevertheless Abigail and her equally bright sisters had access to her father’s excellent library and that of their grandparents. These were heady tomes on theology, philosophy, government and politics, history, classical literature, and anything that might help shape moral attitudes and behavior. 

It became apparent to Abigail Smith that girls ought to have the same exposure to learning as their brothers. She reasoned that if they were expected to raise sons to a high level of achievement, they should be given the tools to do that job. It was a mantra she espoused for her entire life. 

When she married John Adams she found a like-minded soul, who encouraged her inquisitive and turbulent mind. Most of the time. 

AA: Written for Eternity

In the same letter that Mrs. Adams wrote to her husband in Philadelphia, where she longed to hear of a declaration of independency, she wrote, “…in the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies…” 

But when Abigail Adams continued her plea for remembrance, she actually was quoting British author Daniel Defoe, of Robinson Crusoe fame, when she added that “all men would be Tyrants if they could.” 

Throughout history, all power had been assigned to the masculine sex; women (i.e. wives) were always subservient, expected to obey a husband’s rule, no matter how tyrannical, foolish or cruel it may be. She suggested that it should be put out of their [men’s] power of the vicious and lawless to use us [women] with cruelty and indignity with impunity.

She further teased – at the risk of her husband finding her “saucy” – that she was well aware that a major component of the American determination for independence was their resentment of being bound by taxation (or any other restrictive laws) without representation. That re-enforced her strong feelings against slavery, which never changed, and which John was keenly aware of,  “…fighting ourselves for what we are daily robbing and plundering from those who have as good a right to freedom as we have.”

She added that if particular care and attention is not paid [to the Ladies] “we are determined to foment a Rebellion and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.” She was not asking for sexual (i.e. female) equality; she sought a legal system whereby a married woman could institute an action against an abusive husband, and guarantee her a share of the fruits of their mutual labors, and that would recognize her voice in the education of their daughters.

And if she was quoting Daniel Defoe regarding male “tyranny,” perhaps she remembered the ancient Greek dramatist Aristophanes, whose play Lysistrata focused on the rebellious women who banded together to deny sexual privileges to their menfolk in order to stop a war!

Abigail was a voracious reader, and classics were her delight. Her letters are filled with lengthy quotes. Just a thought.

John’s Reply

John Adams always appreciated a good mind wherever he found it, and he always knew the goldmine of his wife’s intellect. He also likely knew when to avoid a hornet’s nest when he was sitting on one – and knew any serious consideration of women as a potent force was a never-win situation. He gently laughed it off as petticoat-rule, perhaps knowing that he was one of the least guilty of men… and his wife knew it!

While Abigail found a kindred spirit in Mercy Warren, who by that time had become a dear and trusted friend, she nevertheless dropped the subject with her husband, this time by quoting Alexander Pope’s couplet:

“Charm by accepting, but submitting sway, Yet have our Humour most when we obey.”

  It took another 150 years before the Ladies decided to remember themselves. 

Sources:

Akers, Charles W. – Abigail Adams: A revolutionary American Woman – The Library of American Biography – Pearson Longman, 2007

Ellis, Joseph J. – First Family: Abigail and John Adams – Alfred A. Knopf, 2010

Gelles, Edith B. – Abigail and John: Portrait of a Marriage – William Morrow, 2009

https://millercenter.org/president/adams

https://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/doc?id=L17740922aa